7.07.2012

The Penny Worthy Project

Usually I post lots of thrifting finds for the Penny Worthy project but since this is all about making yourself happy on a budget this week I'm changing it up. I did hit up a few thrift stores but with Independence Day smack dab in the middle of the week my rhythm was off all week. Whenever I thought about thrifting it never seemed like I had time to really shop but just a quick peruse.

I did however start something really amazing and useful, canning for the year. Now I usually work through the year and put things away bit by bit when it becomes available or I have time. There is still that one day where I look around and think this is it a new year of canning. I clean out the pantry and the fridge and wash all my jars up and make an endless list of things I want to try. I have joined forces with my very good friend Stephanie to make canning even more fun and productive. She sent me her list of things she wants to make it looks like this:

Bacon jamCaramelized onions- a small batch to start but if they are as good as I think they will be, I bet I'm going to want 3 dz pints for the winter. Imagine being able to just throw some in beef stock for French onion soup or in a pie crust with some game and swiss for a quick quiche!Pickled watermelon rind( just to try it! )Pickled spicy carrotsPlum lavender jamMixed berry jamRaspberry jamApricot jamStrawberry jamSpiced pickled peach jamPepper jellyBlackberry jellyBlueberry pie fillingApple pie fillingApricot orange preservesFig preservesOrange marmaladePeach almond conserveDill picklesBread and butter picklesDilly beansCornichonsSweet pickle relishSalsaPlain canned tomatoesPlain canned cornPlain canned carrotsKetchupAjvar knock-offCorn relishStone fruit chutneyApple onion chutneyBBQ saucePeach BBQ sauceTomato sauce

That's not even including everything I want to make, but then again many of things I want to do are on that list. SO add to her list

Uh wow we better get started NOW! And so we did, we spent the day making VATS of Whiskey Bacon Jam,

Caramelized Onions--almost caramelized anyway!

and Spicy Carrots. We also worked on a soffritto but didn't get it canned so it's in the freezer. What a great way to kick off canning season, we made 14 jars of Whiskey Bacon Jam, 28 jars of pickled carrots, 4 jars of caramelized onions, 8 jars of soffritto. The spicy carrots alone took 30 pounds of organic carrots...that's a LOT of peeling people!

In the middle of all this going on we started talking how many jars of jam we might want to end up with. I talk in terms of how many we need for each week and figure things that way, and the mental math came up to about 3 per week, ahem 150 jars or so per year. I was embarrassed by that high number but knowing we use it in yogurt, oatmeal and sandwiches I threw the number out to Steph. She didn't bat an eye but instead said "ok then we are NOT freaks because we need about that much" No hon you are freaks it's just that we are too.

We had a great long day of canning, bs-ing, kids running through the house, dogs thundering around(our mastiff, their pyrenees) and in the end hamburgers grilled by the husband and fresh beer from Arkose brewery. To top it all off we had a little chocolate tasting session with some chocolates by a local chocolatier. I'll be writing up a full drool worthy post on her chocolates later on but for now rest assured that they were delicious.